Uconn

UConn women to face Irish in tourney final BY ROGER CLEAVELANDRepublican-American

Connecticut's Breanna Stewart, right, looks to pass while guarded by Syracuse's Rachel Coffey in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East Conference women's tournament in Hartford, Conn., Monday, March 11, 2013. Connecticut won 64-51. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

HARTFORD — So far, it has been a Big East Tournament of change for the UConn women's basketball team. Now the Huskies have to hope that positive trend continues for at least one more game.

The postseason has been very good for the Huskies as they managed to re-focus and re-energize a couple of players they had dearly missed during the biggest moments of the regular season. Bria Hartley and Breanna Stewart have re-emerged as trustworthy players at just the right time to give the Huskies better balance.

For the second game in a row, the duo helped propel UConn to a solid overall performance as the Huskies beat No. 24-ranked Syracuse (24-7), 64-51, in the tournament semifinals at the XL Center.

"I think these past two games really helped with my confidence going into the final game," Stewart said. "I am just trying to keep building on what has happened so far."

For the second straight game, Stewart led the team in scoring, tying Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis for those honors with 14 points. Stefanie Dolson added 13 points and nine rebounds while Hartley had 11 points and a game-high seven assists. Kelly Faris scored just seven points, but had a game-high 12 rebounds.

"I thought tonight, for the most part, Bria was really, really good," Geno Auriemma said. "As was Stefanie, as was Stewie."

The Huskies (29-3) have advanced to the championship game for the ninth consecutive year and for the 23rd time in the last 25 years. During the previous 24 title game appearances, they have won 18 times including the last five tournament titles in a row.

Each of the last two tournament championships have come against Notre Dame, which advanced to today's final with an 83-59 victory over Louisville in Monday's other semifinal.

UConn has played Notre Dame 10 times during the Big East Tournament and has beaten the Irish every time. The Irish have never won a Big East Tournament championship because all previous six times they have reached the title

See WOMEN, Page 6C

game in the past they lost to UConn.

Overall, however, Notre Dame has unprecedented success against UConn, and that is where the Huskies could use a little bit of change in this tournament. The Irish have beaten the Huskies six of the last seven games in the series including both times they played this regular season.

"I think there has been more of an urgency that you see in us since the last game in practices leading up to this tournament, the game we played (Sunday) and the first half of this game," Hartley said. "When we are confident, we are aggressive, and I think that is the main key for our team. If we are aggressive and we are all trying to make plays, we are going to be fine against Notre Dame."

The Huskies didn't go on any crushing runs in the game, but they played solid throughout the first half and then scored 12 of the last 16 points of the half to take a 39-24 lead into intermission.

Some very sloppy play to start the second half, but even after turning the ball over four times and shooting 1-for-4 from the field in the first 4:13, the Huskies still had a five-point lead, 42-27.

Then Hartley got them going once again. She pushed the ball in transition and pulled up for mid-range jumper on one possession then drove into the lane and dished off to Dolson for an easy layup the next possession.

"It is one of the things that I think Bria does best, when she goes in the lane looking to make a player for herself or her teammates, it helps us tremendously," Auriemma said. "One, because it keeps us from just being a jump shooting team, and it also gets us to the free throw line.

Hartley is the one player on the team who can create offense by herself when she is playing well, and that is weapon the Huskies have missed most of this season as she struggled with inconsistencies and lack of confidence.

In the second half as Syracuse went on an 11-3 run to close to within nine points, 49-40, it was Stewart who settled the Huskies. She scored their only three points during the run by the Orange and then ended with a strong basket inside in traffic.

"It is really important, because I want to be able to step up and take those shots," Stewart said. "I want to help out my teammates in that way. There were times when they started coming on a run, and we created our own run."

After a pair of free throws by Syracuse's Kayla Alexander made it a nine-point game again at 51-42, Hartley responded once more. She scored on a pair of free throws after one aggressive drive into the lane then drove again on the next possession and dished off to Dolson.

A 3-pointer by Brianna Butler pulled the Orange to within 10 points, 55-45, but on the ensuing possession Hartley drew the defense and passed the ball off to Mosqueda-Lewis for a three. She just provided a little bit of a calming presence for the team.

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